He could have killed me or worse… bonded me to Blaine.
It was only pure luck, and maybe a little magic dust from the goddess, that kept me from losing everything.
Slade huffed at the fact that he had to wait to avenge me, but he trusted Hunter to be the more levelheaded when his dragon’s rage took over. Personally, I enjoyed the side of him that lost control and killed any threat around us. Not that I’d admit it.
The bright green of his gaze snapped in my direction.I will kill anything that even breathes wrong around you, Snow.
My block was as faulty as the flickering lights above us.That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me, Scary.
Slade tilted his head and looked rather pleased that I was slightly unhinged too.
While most of us waited around Chelsea, Finley and Constantine wandered off to investigate the rest of this level. I kept tabs on the bear through our bond, worried when he was out of sight in this horror house. Hopefully Constantine would spot any magical traps before they were sprung.
Finley hurried back a few minutes later. “I found Fletcher’s office.”
Slade and Hunter eased up on eyeballing Chelsea and headed toward Finley.
“Keep an eye on her,” Slade called to his twin, and Talon nodded, arms crossed and expression hard. “And don’t kill her yet. Hunter is right, we need to wait for answers first.”
Now Talon just looked annoyed but didn’t do anything other than lean against one of the stainless-steel tables.
Curiosity had me following the alphas down a white hall into the office. A cold, impersonal office. The metal desk held a laptop and a few folders, which Finley was riffling through. There were two filing cabinets which Hunter approached, and Slade went for the computer.
“Have you found anything of importance?” Slade asked as he booted up the device.
Finley’s expression was grim. “These are notes from his omega experiments. Not to mention alphas, betas, and deltas.”
He opened a folder which had a bold, black title on the cover:Experiment 34. Forced bonding 8.
Inside, I could see a pinned photo of a pretty blonde omega female. She was smiling, her blue eyes lit up as if she were truly happy. A few flips through the pages told a completely different story. More photos, each of them showing a deterioration, until the last photo she was barely recognizable. “There are experiment notes for each stage,” Finley muttered, and I heard the clank of his teeth as he ground them together. “In this case, he bonded her to two alphas, simulating a scent match, and was able to strip her of her powers. Only the alphas couldn’t hold on to the additional strength long enough to be useful.” He read a bit more and shook his head. “He noted that it took a completed quintet to form long-lasting power. He was also making adjustment to how they simulated scent matches.”
“There are more in here,” Hunter said, his words shaking with his fury. “Folder after folder of experiments. Some dating back twenty or more years.”
Slade’s keystrokes were heavy against the laptop, the heat in the room giving away his fury, but he hadn’t said anything yet.
“He always planned to control us,” Hunter said, each word filled with his rage. “We all have folders in here. Each of us was groomed in a different way to create the alphas he wanted. He didn’t care that we hated him, he knew he could control us through Emme. And he planned to control Emme through Talon and Jewels.”
“Jewels was the nail in his coffin,” I said, shaking my head. “Amazing that for all of his research, he never saw her betrayal coming. Which derailed his entire plan.”
“Talon helped fuck him up too,” Slade finally spoke, voice flat, though I caught the lick of pride over his twin. “He was on Fletcher’sside, but what that pathetic excuse for an alpha didn’t realize was that it’s impossible to fight Emme’s purity. Fletcher never expected Emme to forgive Talon for his actions and show him the meaning of a true pack.Emmeand Jewels were the nails in his coffin.”
Slade’s praise meant so much that it was hard not to react. Somehow, I managed to keep my voice even. “Now we just need to find the nail in Jewels’ coffin.”
Slade returned to his typing. Finley was finished with the folders on the table, and had taken to reading over the dragon’s shoulder.
“What did you find?” Hunter asked them as he piled files on the table.
“This is the online account,” Finley said, his voice brimming with the burr of his bear. “He held fifty-eight omegas over a thirty-year period.”
Fifty-fucking-eight. We were so rare to begin with, and fifty-eight of my kind had been experimented on and were dead at Fletcher’s hands. “Is my mother’s file in there?” I asked, my voice cracking even though I was mostly anger. “Is mine?”
Finley leapt over the desk and wrapped me up in one of his perfect bear hugs. “She was subject forty-five,” he said as he held me. “Chelsea was fifty-seven.”
He paused, and Slade’s voice slowly filtered through the room, a deep, raging rumble. “You were fifty-eight, Emme.”
Just two of us still alive, out of almost sixty omegas.
Finley tightened his hold, and despite the hollow, choked-up feeling inside of me, I was comforted. “What… what did he say about Mom?”
